We would like to take a moment to remember a cherished member of our research community who left us so unexpectedly recently. Some of you may have heard the sad news, but for those who have not, Dr. Simon Poulding passed away in August.

For many of us, it would not be an exaggeration to say that we lost someone who was at the very heart of this community. Simon was part of the SEBASE project that not only launched the careers of some people, but also contributed to the birth of the Symposium on Search-Based Software Engineering and the SBST workshop series. Working together with many of us, he made a series of important technical contributions to the field, including the introduction of statistical testing, the early work in Genetic Improvement - which is now a highly successful research area - and new approaches towards search-based software testing.

With his passing, our community also lost a champion for rigorous statistical practices. Many in this community benefitted from his seminars and tutorials on statistical methods. His former colleagues at University of York are planning to keep the writing on the left on his old office.

But, most of all, we lost a wonderful colleague whose warmth, humour, and kindness always shone through. Our community was a better place for having a colleague like him.

Thank you, Simon.

Steering Committee (SC) Members

Following the 2014 event, it was decided that a formal steering committee would be
formed, consisting of the organizing chairs from the last five years of workshops.
After every workshop, the organizing chairs join or renew their position on the committee
for a period of five years.
The current membership is as follows:

The SC chair is the previous workshop's outgoing organizing chair, replacing
the previous chair, who takes on the role of deputy — thus ensuring a smooth handover
from one year to the next. The role of the SC chair is to:

1) Help the current workshop organizing chairs with the proposal for holding the workshop at ICSE, and be the SC's voice on any guidance the organizing chairs may require, soliciting the advice of the wider SC as needed.

2) Organize the in-person SC meeting held during each workshop.

3) Initiate the nomination and approval process of organizing chairs for forthcoming workshop(s) with the deputy, discussing the options with the SC. Then, following approval from the SC, invite the person(s) concerned.